Pointers: Recommended reading 10-06-08

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Not business as usualSource: BNetWhat do you do with staff members who miss meetings, work odd hours and yet are more productive than more traditional employees?

According to a new work management philosophy — known as Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) — you let them keep at it.

According to BNet, Best Buy pioneered this approach and has reaped ample rewards. This online feature provides an overview of ROWE, explaining how it works and how it compares with other management methods.

The privacy dilemmaSource: Navy CIO blogThe best way to protect personally identifiable information is to teach people to treat it like it was classified, writes blogger Robert Carey, the Navy’s chief information officer.

“Because of the threat identity theft presents, it is as important as classified information, and it must be treated that way,” he writes. “Accountability is key at all levels of the workforce” and must include leaders and managers, Carey adds.

Mobile phone security worriesSource: Mercury NewsThe more mobile phones come to resemble personal computers, the more likely they are to become targets of viruses, spyware and other security threats, security experts say.

Experts have already identified approximately 500 different cases of malware infecting mobile phones. And more are on the way.

One expert predicts that hackers soon could find a way to listen in on conversations, snoop through phone cameras or track users through built-in GPS functionality.

The Homeland Security Department is developing mobile laboratories that provide high-tech sensors to screen people for possible harmful intentions. DHS hopes to field these laboratories at border crossings, major events and other potential terrorist targets.

Although potentially useful, this initiative raises numerous legal and privacy concerns, Vining writes. For example, what happens if someone trips the system because of a medical condition? And what will DHS do with individuals deemed to have bad intentions when it doesn’t have any corroborating evidence?